CREATE Project Bulletin – July 31, 2018

July 31, 2018

CREATE July RoundUp

Contributions Welcome – Contributions from project partners to the RoundUp are welcome. If you have an idea for a feature, event or just something that made you smile please contact Sara Branch (s.branch@griffith.edu.au) for inclusion in future RoundUps.

Q&A Teleconference – Members of the project team are available at a Q&A teleconference for anyone interested in continuing the conversation, at 2pm on Tuesday August 14th: Call 07 373 59777 (Meeting Number: 994 313 443 #).

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

From the Director’s Desk – Professor Greer Johnson (Co-Director): For some time now I have been working with Ross and the ‘CREATE family’ in the lead up to our collective success with the ARC Linkage application. I have met many of you at meetings far and wide over the past year and have enjoyed especially getting to know how partners are working with communities in Queensland and New South Wales.

Perhaps a brief introduction to the research I have done prior to joining you will give a picture of why I am excited to be doing what we do. Since 2003 I have been working with principals researching and developing leadership for learning (to read) in disadvantaged school communities. During that time, the highlight was working with principals in 48 Indigenous schools in Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory with a focus on improving children’s reading. We found that the pedagogic methods we used to teach reading did in fact increase teachers and children’ capabilities to teach and learn. Subsequent projects with CREATE team member Associate Professor Bev Fluckiger has shown that real improvement for children would only be possible if we could somehow engage with families and communities and agencies in the community in the quest to have more children learn to succeed.

This is when over several coffees, we decided to collaborate with Ross. Our goals resonated: making children’s lives better by working collectively with all stakeholders. The CREATE project enables Bev and I to continue to work with schools differently. A part of the project is focused on bringing families, schools and community agencies together so that families and children can sustainably lead better lives.

I see it as a wonderful opportunity to work with the CREATE partners and the research team as I am sure that this is a reliable pathway to translatable outcomes and collective impact for children and families. Best of all is the expert knowledge that each and every person on this enormous project brings. I am looking forward to working together and learning more over the next two years.

Follow-up to the Face-to Face Plenary Project Meeting, Sydney, June 28, 2018: Progress is being made following on from the Plenary Meeting at the end of June.

Earlier in the month all invitees would have received a summary of the meeting notes prepared by Karen Russell (facilitator on the 28th). The summary notes are also available on the Project Management Portal under Project Governance.

As highlighted in last months ‘RoundUp’ it was resolved at the Plenary meeting that the CREATE Oversight and Executive Committee (CEOC) would become the CREATE Executive Committee (CEC), in order to reflect its role in strategic decision making and responsibility for the outcomes of the project as a whole. The CEOC Terms of Reference (TOR) for the CREATE Executive Committee have been reviewed by the Project Secretariat (i.e., Project Team) and a draft version of the TOR developed. This version of the TOR was distributed to project partner representatives for consideration and comment. Once reformed the CEC will consider and finalise the TOR.

All project partner organisations have also been contacted by the Project Secretariat seeking nominations for membership to the CEC. In this regard, the NGO Facilitating Partner group has prepared a document proposing changes to project governance arrangements which the Project Secretariat will forward to all project partners for consideration and response. After project governance details are agreed the nomination process can be finalised and the first meeting of the CEC held.

CEC First Meeting: As the positions of the Chair and Deputy-Chair are currently vacant, Ross Homel will temporarily chair the CEC meeting until the Chair and Deputy-Chair positions have been elected. Other items for the CEC to consider at this first meeting could include: Review and finalise Terms of Reference; Setting standing items for the CEC agenda; Discuss feedback on the Communications Plan and possibly finalise; and Discuss feedback on the Program Plan and develop the process for finalisation. We hope the CEC will be able to convene late in August early September.

We are still seeking any comments in relation to the Communications Plan and Program Plan for the CEC to consider. If you have any comments please forward them to Sara Branch (s.branch@griffith.edu.au).

Recruitment of PhD Candidates: One outcome from the ARC Grant is funding for two PhD positions by Griffith University. Each PhD scholar will be supported and supervised by members of the Griffith Criminology Institute and the Griffith Institute for Educational Research, reflecting the work emerging from these two institutes. Below is a summary of the areas of study for the two PhD projects. Please share this information with anybody you feel would be interested in either of these positions. More information about how to apply along with closing dates will follow in next month’s RoundUp.

Scholar 1: This person will join the team as they conduct research on the impact of the use of Rumble’s Quest, particularly its role in catalysing action and change within schools and communities. The actions generated by schools and agencies in responding to their data reports will be a key focus of the research, but the scholar will also forge partnerships with a small number of schools or agencies so that they can become an active participant in the development, implementation, and evaluation of data-driven initiatives. The successful applicant will have high-level quantitative and qualitative research skills, and will have a background in criminology, psychology, social work, or a related field.
Scholar 2: The successful applicant will work with members of the CREATE research team as they support families, educators, school leaders, and community agents in building mutually responsive partnerships for collective impact. The scholar will have research interests related to school leadership and/or parent engagement, and experience in using a mixed methods research approach in order to examine links between authentic family-school-community engagement and outcomes for children.

FEATURE – PROJECT ELEMENT

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS PROJECT

MATTHEW MANNING AND GABRIEL WONG

The following summarises the work undertaken, to date, by the ANU research team responsible for the economics component of the “CREATE-ing Pathways to Child Wellbeing in Disadvantaged Communities”. It provides a brief summary of economic analysis (EA) such as cost-benefit analysis (CBA), cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), cost-savings analysis (CSA) and cost-utility analysis (CUA), and its benefits including:

setting priorities and plans;
identifying the best way of achieving strategic objectives or goals;
assisting in the development of cost-effective designs and strategies;
informing users as to which program can be implemented at the lowest cost;
potentially providing information on which alternative has the lowest impact on external parties;
providing an analysis of returns on investment; and
documenting the decision process.

As part of the larger project, a range of economic sub-projects have been planned to: (1) collect and summarise economic data related to services provided by Community Coalitions; (2) analyse economic data that also includes data provided by Griffith University with respect to child outcomes; and (3) assist in developing interactive on-line resources and training for partners of Community Coalitions to conduct EA.

Two trial data collection sites were recruited to provide program-related costs during the most recent financial year (i.e. June 2017 to June 2018) or an alternative 12-month period that was suitable for the organisation. The two sites were selected as they represent communities with a full range of school-, family-, and community-based services for disadvantaged children. Examples of services include literacy events and activities, positive parenting programs, home visits, healthy lifestyle education, and school-readiness support.

In order to facilitate data collection from the trial sites, a series of conversations have occurred between the ANU Team and the leadership and implementation teams within the trial sites. During the conversations, the Collective Impact Facilitator and Program Manager at each site have provided valuable comments with regard to: (1) the use of terminology; (2) estimation of the burden on respondents (i.e. Community Partners (CPs)) who are involved in working directly with families and children; and (3) process and planning for communicating with CPs most effectively regarding the information needed for the economic analysis pilot, and how this will be effectively gathered by the CPs. As a result of the preparation and conversations, an Excel-based and online questionnaire has been developed to provide step-by-step guidance to participants in providing the necessary economic data.

Central to the EA component of the Project is the development of an Economic Support and Reporting Tool (ESRT), which allows members of Community Coalitions to contribute in providing data and information to conduct self-administered economic evaluations. When completed the ESRT will be included as part of the suite of resources available on the online Community Coalition Portal. The ultimate goal is that, with the support of the ESRT and regular reporting of program-related outcomes, the need for help from an EA expert will be minimised. The plan is that members of Community Coalitions will be able to perform EA, including CFA, CEA, CBA, by following the guidelines and interacting with the tool.

In the current phase of the Project, our primary focus is to work closely with the leadership and implementation teams to develop an efficient mechanism in economic data collection. This includes both the questionnaire and the process of engaging FPs and CPs in providing the necessary data for EA. In addition to this is our priority in translating the economic data collected from pilot sites into a systematic and structured format (i.e. from answers in the questionnaire to data in organised tables) that can be used for EA.

Challenges faced during the process of data collection with Facilitating Partners and CPs in the two trial sites have included engagement between the research team and CPs, the inclusion of schools in the second phase of the trial data collection, and the finalisation of the Beta version of the ESRT. We would like to thank both trial sites and their CPs for their engagement and insight. Their knowledge and generous assistance have been invaluable.

FEATURE – PARTNER ORGANISATION

LOGAN TOGETHER

GEOFF WOOLCOCK

Logan Together (logantogether.org.au) is a multi-level collaboration between the community, service providers, community organisations, government partners and the business community to grow Logan’s kids up well. This 10-year, whole-of-community movement aims to ensure Logan’s 0-8 year olds grow up as healthy and full of potential as any other group of Australian children. There is considerable evidence accumulated nationally and internationally of the benefits of early intervention and prevention in the early years. Using a collective impact approach, the Griffith University (Logan campus)-based backbone team of Logan Together help to coordinate activity across all relevant sectors.

Logan Together enjoys long-term funding support from three levels of government plus broad philanthropic support originally triggered by the Ten20 Foundation, now operating as Opportunity Child where Logan is one of the original communities funded for 10 years. Extensive data has already been collected and collated though the production of a State of Logan’s Children Report (updated in 2017) to be the critical baseline from which change can be measured. As one of the original Communities for Children sites, Logan CFC facilitating agency (and CREATE partner) The Salvation Army have also been closely involved in the establishment of Logan Together. One of its most significant ‘wins’ to date is the rollout of several Community Maternity Hubs across Logan where nearly one hundred healthy newborns have already been delivered.

The original ARC Linkage partnership between CREATE and the Logan Child-Friendly Community Consortium has evolved into a direct partnership with Logan Together, with representation on CREATE’s executive via LT Management Committee member Adjunct Associate Professor Geoff Woolcock. In recognition of the significance of Logan Together and the considerable funding it continues to attract in redefining the way we approach place-based prevention and early intervention, a major event is taking place with co-hosts Collaboration for Impact and Opportunity Child, November 19-23, 2018. Changefest: a celebration of place-based social change will bring together more than 500 change makers from across the country to passionately share, inspire, determine and progress a future where communities are empowered, and poverty and disadvantage is diminished from the bottom-up.

THINGS THAT MADE US SMILE THIS MONTH

Within this section we would like to share items that project partners have read, heard, seen and just made them smile! Please share anything that made you smile for inclusion in future RoundUps (contact Sara Branch – s.branch@griffith.edu.au).

Ross Homel: It was a delight to see Gabriel Wong again, with his family from Hong Kong, in Brisbane on Friday evening, July 27, when he graduated with his PhD in Criminology from Griffith University. Gabe has been working with our colleague Associate Professor Matthew Manning at ANU on the economic aspect of the CREATE Project, a summary of which is included in this issue of the RoundUp. Pictured is Gabe with his Griffith supervisor, Ross Homel.
Sara Branch: One article that made me smile recently was The Water of Systems Change, by John Kania, Mark Kramer, and Peter Senge. I especially enjoyed their discussion about making the implicit explicit and mental models. Making explicit current mental models and exploring what may need to change within them is vital because if individuals, community coalitions, organisations, and systems are not willing to make a mind-shift then changes within policies, practices and relationships, in the words of Kania, Kramer and Senge, “will, at best, be temporary or incomplete”. For those who have not seen the article you can access it via: https://www.fsg.org/publications/water_of_systems_change

UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Within this space we would like to share events that project partners would like everybody to know about. Please share events you feel others would be interested in hearing about by contacting Sara Branch (s.branch@griffith.edu.au).

WHAT’S NEW IN THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PORTAL

(Items added in July)

Project Governance

CREATE Project Plenary Sydney 28 June 2018 – Summary (DRAFT) – posted 23-7-18

CIF Role

Update to CIFs – Update to CIFs – Weeks from 16-7-18 to the 27-7-18 – posted 25-7-18
Roles and Tasks – CIF Individual Journal Reflective Process – FINAL July 2018 – posted 16-7-18

Communications

CREATE Project Bulletin – June, 2018 – posted 3-7-18

Items of Interest

Data Dictionary for Administrative/Community Data – posted 23-7-18

Please go to the Project Management Portal to view these documents. All project partner representatives and CIFs have access to view these documents. To access the portal go to: https://www.creatingpathways.org.au/project-management/project-management-portal

Category: Project Newsletter

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